日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

 
 
 

Right side of history?

中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng) 2016-02-05 11:11

 

Right side of history?

Reader question:

Please explain “right side of history” in this sentence: Gay proponents claim to be on the right side of history.

My comments:

Supporters of gay rights believe they’re doing the right thing.

That is, if history be the judge.

In other words, they think posterity will judge their current position favorably. Simply put, they think future generations will take their side.

As humans, we move by taking steps forward instead of backward. Likewise, we tend to believe that history is advancing in the same direction – forward instead of backward.

Metaphorically speaking that means human societies are becoming more enlightened and less benighted, more peaceful and less violent, more democratic and less authoritarian and, in terms of dealing with gay and other people who are different from us in some way or other, more tolerant and less bigoted.

Societies worldwide, in short, are becoming more civilized and less barbaric.

Hence, if you do something to advance matters in this direction, then you’re on the right side of history. What you do may be controversial at this point in time, but in the long run, history will be on your side. Future generations will give you their approval.

We humans move backward, of course when we are in face of danger or something. We sometimes take two steps forward, one step back. History, too, often takes a zigzagging route, sometimes moving backwards before turning forward again. Generally speaking, though, we humans move in the right direction, i.e. from darkness to light.

That is relieving, isn’t it?

It is relieving if you care to think long term.

For time being, in the heat of the moment, we do sometimes find it doubtful whether something is on the right side history or wrong. Read the following examples to make a judgment for yourself, or, if you will, leave it to history:

1. Historians continue to debate the impact that individuals can have on their time period. In looking at the period 1985-1989, specifically the overlapping of Reagan’s second term with the rise to power of Gorbachev, and the almost immediate easing of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States, the reasons for the subsequent end of the Cold War have varied from Reagan's consistent economic pressure that allegedly bankrupted the Soviet Union to Gorbachev’s internal reforms that allowed for private ownership and governmental transparency. Many have argued that Reagan single-handedly won the Cold War. Others that Gorbachev deserves all the credit.

But those arguments, though important to the story of the end of the Cold War, leave out, I think, the most important factor in bringing the cold war to an end. Instead of Reagan’s economic pressure and massive defense spending that bankrupted the Soviet Union, or Gorbachev's internal reforms that westernized the Soviet Union, the private and mostly top-secret correspondence between Reagan and Gorbachev forced the two leaders to continue to talk, debate, argue, disagree, but also offer proposals even when they thought no agreement would be possible. Both Reagan and Gorbachev recognized that change was coming, and both wanted to be on the right side of history. But they needed to find a way to overcome forty years of Cold War ideology. They needed to find a way to trust each other. It was this trust, established through twelve detailed and frank letters that provided the basis for their first meeting in Geneva, in November 1985, just eight months after Gorbachev came to power. And 15 more letters that provided the basis for their next meeting, in Reykjavik, not even a year later. Though the Geneva and Reykjavik meetings failed to produce any arms control agreements, or really agreements on anything, their shared belief that they needed to continue to do everything in their power to prevent a nuclear war kept them talking, and kept them writing.

- Recently Released Letters Between Reagan and Gorbachev Shed Light on the End of the Cold War, HuffingtonPost.com, February 27, 2013.

2. There’s a photo in the lobby of the building where I work that I pass every day, and I never thought much about it. But then, one morning, a small detail caught my eye.

The photo shows bow-tied bandleader Lawrence Welk and singer Mildred Stanley posing with a sign that says: “Keep us out of war. Be neutral.”

The photo was taken Sept. 11, 1939, days after the Nazis had ignited World War II by marching into Poland. Less than a year earlier, Adolf Hitler’s followers had burned hundreds of synagogues, killed nearly 100 Jews and sent 30,000 to concentration camps during two days of terror that became known as Kristallnacht — the night of broken glass. The intent of the advancing Nazi regime, therefore, couldn't have been much of a mystery.

But there were Welk and his vocalist, smiles on their faces at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, as they labored against the notion of involvement in a conflict that had already sucked in France and England. They wanted to be ‘neutral” in the face of Hitler. Let that sink in for a moment.

It might sound odd now, but it wasn’t an unpopular sentiment at the time. The nation was still fatigued by World War I, which had ended two decades earlier with more than 100,000 American deaths. Another entanglement on the other side of the Atlantic was understandably unpalatable.

But all these years later, that photo looks, at best, hopelessly naive. There’s no telling what this world would look like had fascism been left to spread through Europe, but it probably wouldn’t be a place where democracy and freedom remain the ideal (even if both are often elusive). Plenty of people, including President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had already surmised as much by 1939.

Through the lens of history, we can therefore conclude that Welk, Stanley and their isolationist brethren lacked foresight. They were, as it is said, on the “wrong side of history.” And it is said often.

- History ultimately judges right and wrong, by Josh Noel, ChicagoTribune.com, May 27, 2014.

3. It’s crunch time for the fight against global warming.

And, despite ongoing conflict and uncertainty at the U.N. climate change summit here in Paris, optimism is still running high.

“It’s time to come to an agreement,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is presiding over this process, said in a meeting late Thursday night.

“We must do this, and we can do this,” he added. “I think, dear friends, that we will make it.”

If you want to be on the right side of history on climate change you need to stand for some basic principles,” said Jake Schmidt, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “They’re trying to show other countries that there’s a significant group that wants to be in this camp.”

- COP21: ‘It’s time to come to an agreement’, CNN.com, December 11, 2015.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點(diǎn),與本網(wǎng)立場(chǎng)無(wú)關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問(wèn)題,尊重他人,禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國(guó)家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: [email protected], or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

(作者:張欣 編輯:丹妮)

 
中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津版權(quán)說(shuō)明:凡注明來(lái)源為“中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津:XXX(署名)”的原創(chuàng)作品,除與中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)簽署英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津內(nèi)容授權(quán)協(xié)議的網(wǎng)站外,其他任何網(wǎng)站或單位未經(jīng)允許不得非法盜鏈、轉(zhuǎn)載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請(qǐng)與010-84883561聯(lián)系;凡本網(wǎng)注明“來(lái)源:XXX(非英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津)”的作品,均轉(zhuǎn)載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉(zhuǎn)載,請(qǐng)與稿件來(lái)源方聯(lián)系,如產(chǎn)生任何問(wèn)題與本網(wǎng)無(wú)關(guān);本網(wǎng)所發(fā)布的歌曲、電影片段,版權(quán)歸原作者所有,僅供學(xué)習(xí)與研究,如果侵權(quán),請(qǐng)?zhí)峁┌鏅?quán)證明,以便盡快刪除。

中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)雙語(yǔ)新聞

掃描左側(cè)二維碼

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我們這兒都有!

中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)雙語(yǔ)手機(jī)報(bào)

點(diǎn)擊左側(cè)圖標(biāo)查看訂閱方式

中國(guó)首份雙語(yǔ)手機(jī)報(bào)
學(xué)英語(yǔ)看資訊一個(gè)都不能少!

關(guān)注和訂閱

本文相關(guān)閱讀
人氣排行
熱搜詞
 
 
精華欄目
 

閱讀

詞匯

視聽(tīng)

翻譯

口語(yǔ)

合作

 

關(guān)于我們 | 聯(lián)系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版權(quán)聲明:本網(wǎng)站所刊登的中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津內(nèi)容,版權(quán)屬中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)所有,未經(jīng)協(xié)議授權(quán),禁止下載使用。 歡迎愿意與本網(wǎng)站合作的單位或個(gè)人與我們聯(lián)系。

電話(huà):8610-84883645

傳真:8610-84883500

Email: [email protected]

主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久国产高清视频 | 欧美日韩一区二区三区视频播 | 国内精品久久久久 | 福利一区在线视频 | 激情毛片 | 久热久热 | 亚洲va欧美va天堂v国产综合 | 91 中文字幕| 久久99综合国产精品亚洲首页 | 日本一区视频在线播放 | 九九精品视频在线播放 | 国产精品色 | 嫩草www | 日韩欧美国内 | 久久亚洲国产精品无码一区 | 精品亚洲成人 | 成年女人免费v片 | 午夜网站入口 | 亚洲性色成人 | 精品国产成人在线 | 色视频网站在线观看 | 成人在线网 | 中文字幕三区 | 成人激情综合网 | 看中国国产一级毛片真人视频 | 免费福利在线观看 | 国产高清视频在线 | 小明看看在线视频 | 中文字幕欧美在线 | 久久久久久9 | 色播视频在线播放 | 国产色综合一区二区三区 | а√天堂资源中文最新版地址 | 亚洲欧美在线免费观看 | 人人艹逼 | 99爱在线视频这里只有精品 | 亚洲一区二区三区深夜天堂 | 在线一区二区三区做爰视频网站 | 精品欧美一区二区三区免费观看 | 精品视频一区二区三区在线播放 | 久草视频在线播放 |